Ovens and Murray: Corowa-Rutherglen appoints Steve Owen as coach
Corowa-Rutherglen’s marathon search for a coach is finally over. See who has been appointed.
Corowa-Rutherglen’s three-month hunt for a coach has ended with former Geelong draftee Steve Owen taking on the job for the next two years.
Owen joins the club from nearby Tallangatta and District league team Rutherglen where the 35-year-old was a playing coach for the past two years.
He was an initially appointed an assistant coach for the 2020 season that was wiped out by Covid.
Rutherglen finished ninth this year.
Owen replaces Peter German, who left Corowa-Rutherglen after two seasons in charge to take on the coaching job of WAFL club Perth Demons.
Owen’s first job will be to stop the player drain from the club that includes its best and fairest winner of the past two seasons, Cameron Wilson.
Owen was drafted by Geelong in 2005, but injuries prevented him playing a senior match.
He is also a former coach and premiership player with Queenscliff in the Bellarine league.
VFL duo Tom Wilson and Tom O’Sullivan and Chiltern premiership coach Luke Brookes had been linked to the vacant coaching job since the end of last season.
Ovens and Murray league and AFL North-East Border officials recently met with Corowa-Rutherglen to discuss the club’s plight.
One major discussion point was the lack of action on addressing a shortage of players in the “Corowa Cluster” area.
MORE POINTS NEEDED
A former Corowa-Rutherglen coach has proposed a radical shake-up of the Ovens and Murray league’s points system to save struggling clubs.
Terry Burgess, who coached Corowa-Rutherglen during the mid-2010s when it lost 38 matches on the trot, said the present player points allocations needed overhauling if clubs like Corowa-Rutherglen were to survive long term.
He said clubs such as reigning premier Wangaratta and Albury in the larger population centres would always have an advantage over teams like Corowa-Rutherglen and Myrtleford.
“It’s pretty evident that the current system isn’t working,” Burgess said.
“Given there are plenty of advantages to some clubs around bigger populations, more work opportunities, larger schools, newer facilities, the game-breaker they have is the ability to do third-party deals in recruiting players.”
Burgess has proposed a points system based on a club’s 10-year performance rather than the slight adjustments that take place annually based on a club’s application to AFL Victoria.
“Leave the benchmark at 38 points, but if a club hasn’t won a flag in 10 years they get plus five points,” he said.
“But as soon as you win a flag you lose those five points.
“A club would also get plus one point for every year they don’t play finals, but again every year they make finals they lose a point.
“So the worst club with no premiership or finals appearances over a 10-year period would get plus 15 points which equates to three top end players.
“Would it be possible for a club to win a premiership with plus 15 points? You would still say it’s unlikely.
“But it could give them an opportunity to play finals and importantly give volunteers hope.”
COACH HUNT DRAGS ON
Corowa-Rutherglen will head into the Christmas break in a precarious position without a coach, a growing list of player departures and no recruits.
The Ovens and Murray league club has lost about 25 players from this year’s list following the inability to secure a replacement for its coach of the past two years, Peter German.
Late last week the club advertised for a coach with a deadline for applications of December 23 for a playing or non-playing coach with premier country competition, state league or AFL level experience in its sights.
Corowa-Rutherglen is the home club of Sydney coach and former North Melbourne star goalkicker John Longmire.
It experienced a similar player shortage in 2015-17 when it lost 38 senior matches in a row and forfeited three reserves matches in 2017.
Marc Almond coached the club immediately after that barren period and said some tough decisions were put in the too hard basket.
Talks started about reducing the number of clubs in what became known as the “Corowa Cluster”, but fizzled out.
“I know when I got to the club they were on the verge of doing something with CDHBU,” Almond said.
“But we all, as a group, pushed it aside a little bit and thought we could get it back on track, which we did to an extent.
“Looking back, I personally had the belief before that report (by the AFL) was done there are too many clubs in the area and they had to merge or fold.
“We should have learnt that lesson.”
VFL duo Tom Wilson and Tom O’Sullivan and Chiltern premiership coach Luke Brookes have been linked to the vacant coaching job since the end of last season.
Dual best and fairest winner Cameron Wilson heads the long list of departures and has joined Yarrawonga.
O and M chairman David Sinclair said Corowa-Rutherglen’s current situation was a concern for the league.
“It highlights the issues in the ‘Corowa Cluster’ that need to be addressed. There are too many clubs and not enough players,” he said.
“We understand dealing with these issues are easier said than done, but they’re not going away.
“Corowa-Rutherglen is a proud club that have made great strides in recent years.
“Their hardworking volunteers will work their way through this difficult period and ensure they continue, and the region continues, to have a presence in the league.
“Our board will work with the club to ensure that they get all the assistance and support they need.”
STAR PLAYER DEPARTS
Corowa-Rutherglen’s off-season from hell has taken another turn for the worse with star onballer Cameron Wilson signing with rival club Yarrawonga on Monday night.
Wilson has won the past two best and fairests at Corowa-Rutherglen, which is under siege without a senior coach for next year locked in.
Yarrawonga football manager Leigh Ramsdale confirmed the club had signed Wilson, who also finished top five in the Ovens and Murray league best and fairest award this year behind winner Leigh Masters from Yarrawonga.
“It wasn’t a footy decision in the end for him,” Ramsdale said.
“It was more a family decision for him and his partner, Rebecca, and where he sees himself wanting to live longer term.
“It’s a bonus for us that he is a great footballer.
“The competition is at its best when there are 10 sides up and going and we understand they’re having a tough run.”
Yarrawonga will also regain the services of homegrown key forward Matt Casey from metro club Balwyn.
“He was going to have another year down, but was a bit excited watching us play in finals last year,” Ramsdale said.
Yarrawonga lost the grand final to Wangaratta by three points and has since signed Geelong champ Steve Johnson as coach.
FLOOD DAMAGE TOPS $200,000
Corowa-Rutherglen is still in the market for a senior coach as the Ovens and Murray league club deals with a $220,000-plus damage bill from recent flooding.
The club’s home ground is located on the banks of the Murray River and went under when the flood peaked last month.
The long road to recovery is underway with a working bee last weekend enabling the netballers to start pre-season training on Thursday night, but the footballers won’t be back on their ground until the new year.
“It’s devastating what has happened down there,” club president Graham Hosier said.
“It’s completely wrecked our kitchen, plaster throughout the clubrooms all has to be replaced, our netball court was covered in mud and dirt.
“But we’ve been buoyed by the help we’ve been getting.”
Senior player and Ovens and Murray interleague representative Hayden Filliponi is taking charge of pre-season training in the absence of a senior coach following the departure of non-playing coach Peter German at the end of the season.
German has joined WAFL club Perth.
Among the names linked to the vacant job have been VFL duo Tom Wilson and Tom O’Sullivan and also Chiltern premiership coach Luke Brookes.
“We put an offer to someone who we thought was going to take it, but they didn’t,” Hosier said.
“We’ve gone back to the drawing board.
“Hopefully we can get one before Christmas.
“But it’s hard in this environment.
“There is a fair bit of money being thrown around in the metropolitan leagues.
“But Lavington didn’t get a coach until January last year and Wodonga was in the same boat a couple of years ago.”
Hosier returned to the club’s president role at this week’s annual meeting after serving in the position for seven years until 2020.
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